Quit Facebook Day set to be a flop

Only two percent of US Facebook users plan to delete their accounts today as a result of the 'Quit Facebook Day on May 31' campaign.

Despite strong privacy concerns, a survey from Vision Critical suggests the reaction to the campaign has been 'tepid'.

More than half of American Facebook users are aware of the recent scandals over privacy on the site, but only 11 percent have heard of the quit campaign. Of those aware of the campaign, nearly a quarter expect to quit today - just two percent of the total number of Facebook users in the US.

But the campaign has had some effect. Eight out of ten respondents say they are now using Facebook more carefully, and three quarters are sharing less personal information than they used to. Over half said they found Facebook privacy settings confusing.

"The apocalyptic predictions of mass churn from Facebook are highly overrated and likely fueled by a small but vocal group of highly engaged Facebook consumers," says Matt Kleinschmit, Vision Critical's senior vice president of media.

"Too many users are just too vested in the service to delete their account and dismantle a social network they have cultivated over time."

Kleinschmit says the findings reinforce a paradox of social networks that the company has seen time and time again.

"Despite the fact that consumers use this medium for facilitating communication with some of their most trusted friends and family, they view social networks themselves as inherently untrustworthy, particularly relative to more traditional media channels," he says.

Although users are now being more careful, 61 percent said they thought Facebook had done a good job of responding to privacy concerns.